A Fresh Eye Finds Tampa

Connecticut photographer Marion Belanger had never seen Tampa before being selected as the city's 2007 Photographer Laureate.

She had photographed the Everglades, and she sort of expected to see some wild areas like that mixed in with the buildings. But when she finally laid eyes on Tampa's downtown, she was hit with a different reality.

"I was surprised because the city itself was really very established and old, and there really wasn't that intersection between man-made and wild. It was very urban," she said in a telephone interview. "You have some beautiful parks, but they're not wild in the sense that the Everglades are."

What she did find was a lot of new construction interspersed with empty buildings that look like they are awaiting renovation.

"It's like the downtown is in transition," she said. "That captured my interest."

That condition of change became Belanger's focus for the year. She photographed the Tampa Museum of Art after the last party there; she explored the rough beauty of the concrete slabs in Tampa Plaza; she shot empty rooms in the courthouse and discovered doorways and windows in old buildings that seemed to be begging for a painter's brush.

She balanced the changing places with photos of a place that has resisted change: Regency Cove Trailer Park.

The result is 20 photographs of Tampa that provide a scrutiny not seen in previous Photographer Laureates' works. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that Belanger, the fifth in the Photographer Laureate Program, is the first one from outside the Tampa region.

"When you look at all four preceding her, there was a real similarity - or pattern - in subject matter," said Robin Nigh, city of Tampa Art Programs Manager. "Bringing in someone who was not from the area and was not familiar with the familiar landmarks that are so indigenous to the public's consciousness, brought a dimension to the project that we haven't had."

The Photographer Laureate program was started in 2003 as a long-term project aimed at building a public collection of images that represent Tampa. Belanger's fresh approach is hopefully only one of many more to come.

"There's just so much more content out there to do," Nigh said. "That's one of the nice things about this program."

For Belanger, the project led to a new perspective in her own work.

"I never would have thought of photographing buildings in transition before I photographed in Tampa," she said. "Even in my own town, now I see businesses that are closing and I think differently. Being able to work in Tampa expanded my own subject matter.

"I didn't want the project to end. I loved what I saw down there. I wish I could have just kept going. It's just a fascinating place to work."

SEEING IS DISCOVERING

WHAT: Tampa's Fifth Photographer Laureate Portfolio exhibit, featuring 20 works by Marion Belanger.

WHEN: Monday through late fall

WHERE: American Institute of Architects, gallery AIA, 200 N. Tampa St., Suite 100

ADMISSION: Free

MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.aiatampa bay.com and click on Gallery AIA

Who They Were

The previous Tampa Photographer Laureates were:

2003: Beth Reynolds

2004: Suzanne Camp Crosby

2005: Rebecca Sexton Larsen

2006: Steven S. Gregory